Journey in 78 Steps

Deck of the Week: Tarot of the Dead

I thought I'd  be using the Halloween Tarot this week and this one next week, but this works, too.  The Tarot of the Dead is themed around the Mexican Dia de los Muertos, observed Nov. 1-2 (All Saints and All Souls Days).  It is a day to remember one's ancestors, with families sharing picnic feasts at graveyards while they tend the graves.  Special "Bread of the Dead" is baked and sugar skulls are brightly decorated to eat and storekeepers display a large variety of comical skeleton figures dressed in various personalities and situations.  The holiday is the very opposite of morbid... in celebrating and having fun with the idea of Death, life is affirmed along with the inevitability of death and the manner in which it links us all.

This deck uses that concept - in the Major Arcana, each card depicts skeletons in situations relevent to the card and the Minor court cards  show reversals (like regular playing cards) with a variation in stance between the upright and reversed figure.  The minors are Pens/Wands, Pistols/Swords, Coffins/Cups, and Reels/Pentacles (like movie reels) and are mostly nonillustrated.

The result is a deck that is lighthearted and fun with a dark twist, much like the holiday it pays homage to.

Switching Decks - Bright Ideas Deck

As often happens, when I went to do an actual reading with the current deck, it got a bit more personal than merits posting here.  I could either struggle to figure out how to word it in a way  that's usual while still maintaining necessary privacies (and in the process, lose the purpose of the reading for myself), or keep it in my private journal and move on.

Moving on...

My thoughts on the Wonderland Tarot... it's readable.  But not easily - I think this will remain more than anything a novelty deck for me.  I enjoyed finding the literary references to the images on the cards, but it's not something I'd want to do often, nor was I able to get much from the deck on its own without looking to the stories themselves.

So... like Lewis Carroll himself... this can be a lot of fun with some surprises to offer, but sometimes it sounds nonsensical.

The next deck I'll be working with is its polar opposite - the Bright Ideas Deck by Mark McElroy.  This deck turns tarot into a very modern, white collar worker's brainstorming tool.  I actually love this deck (though I'd never want it to be my sole tarot tool), while feeling grumpy about the imagery which looks like power point clip art to me (appropriate but I had PowerPoint overdose a few years back I've not fully recovered from).

If I were to pick one deck to share with a cynic or someone nervous about Tarot who wasn't the sort of person to find the unicorn-and-sunshine 'lite' decks interesting, this might be the one.  Its like a blast of astringent on the sometimes cloying nature much of what the current crop of Tarot decks has to offer.

In the Bright Ideas Deck, colored backgrounds distinguish the suits -

Purple for the Trumps  (dealing with  forces and influences)

Blue for Cups (feelings and emotions)

Green for Pentacles (practicality and physicality)

Yellow for Swords (decisions and logic)

Red for Wands (intention and action)

The minor suits are named for their color.

The other major variation in this deck is the way the Court cards are handled.  They focus on the roles each court position plays - Pages are "Learning", Knights are "Doing", Queens are "Feeling" and Kings are "Controlling".

The result tends to make the cards usable as parts of speech with majors pointing to the surrounding influence, the minors to response and the courts to modes of action.  And because of the modern working nature of the cards themselves, they lead to very grounded practical observations on 'real life'.

Mind you, they also lend themselves - too easily - to the sort of buzzword business retreat workshop type platitudes some of us have been forced into... but its worth digging beneath those similarities to look for meaning.  If you're looking for solutions to dealing with your coworkers, it's just a lot easier to make sense of the answers with a deck that focuses on those types of relationships than it is to translate what the High Priestess is about when she's wearing a power suit.

Daily Draw: 9 of Oysters (Pentacles)

She was standing before an arched doorway, over which were the words `QUEEN ALICE' in large letters, and on each side of the arch there was a bell-handle; one was marked `Visitors' Bell', and the other `Servants' Bell'.

`I'll wait till the song's over,' thought Alice, `and then I'll ring the--the--which bell must I ring?' she went on, very much puzzled by the names.

`I'm not a visitor, and I'm not a servant. There ought to be one marked "Queen", you know--'

~ Through the Looking Glass, Chapter 9. Lewis Carroll

This card shows Alice, decked out in crown and sceptre, imperiously knocking on a door to be let in.  She's surrounded by an entourage of oysters.

In the story, the door Alice is knocking on is the entrance to a party that she is supposedly giving... it is her own turf (though she's never been there before) and inside there is a crowd of guests who've shown up for a party she is supposed to be hosting, singing praises for everything they expect her to give them.  But for the moment, she's not even sure how she's supposed to get in, much less do what is expected of her.

I can't help but associate this card with Sarah Palin this morning, in the aftermath of last night's debate - she made no huge errors in presentation after a month of careful preparation, but I'm not at all sure she herself understood completely what she was coached to say.  I'm sure she worked hard to prepare for last night - she's arrived, as they say, and certainly has her entourage of fans and coaches, but it does seem to be that there is a difference from being crowned Queen and actually having the credentials to be one.

(Yes, I am showing my preferences there)

A recent conversation with one of my daughters highlighted my frustrations here - her husband, who supports McCain, said he thought it would be great to have a 'hot' Vice President.  And didn't understand why B, who had supported Clinton, wasn't happy with this turn of events.  She said - putting the problem here into focus - that while she does want a woman on the ticket, it is discouraging that she's getting there based on appearance - as if, even now, a woman is supposed to get somewhere for being cute, not qualified.

Indeed. (And mind you, 'cute' should not be a bar to being qualified either - but it seems to be all she has.  For anyone to straightfacedly suggest that "I can see Russia from my house!" is adequate foreign policy experience is no different from pinching a baby's cheek and cooing 'whosa woosy cootchie coo')

Watching last night the carefully inserted folksie comments and the opening salvo evoking hockey moms ("I'm one of you! If I can be Queen, anyone can be queen!") I'm reminded that Bush was carefully presented the exact same way.  Enough, already.  Even if she is more what she seems to be than he was (and I think she is), we don't need plain folks in that position..we need someone who actually understands the responsibilities of the office with the ethical fiber to make them happen.

Sarah Palin may be closer to my demographic than Biden is, but that also means I can see the sort of person she is by looking at her attempt to get a man fired for having the gall to divorce her sister... those little dramas happen everyday in 'normal' America.  And I don't like vindictive people in my personal community much less want to hand them the power to be petty in big ways.

Deck of the Week: Wonderland Tarot

I try very hard not to collect decks I don't think I'll be able to read with, but one exception to that rule of thumb is the Wonderland Tarot (picked up second-hand a few years ago).  This is an out of print RWS clone that is drawn  in the style of the original illustrations from Alice in Wonderland.  I was charmed by the idea, but have never even attempted to read with it. (and not sure I'll be able to now)

In this deck the major arcana is composed of the various characters the populate Wonderland, while the minor suits use oysters for Pentacles, Hats  for Cups, Flamingos for Swords and Peppermills for Wands, usually drawn with some suggestion of the original RWS imagery.

Deck of the Week: Vision Quest

This week, I selected the Vision Quest Tarot, a Native American themed deck I rarely use.  The artwork is soothing and interesting, though the concepts contained in it are not specific to any particular  tribe as far as I know, making it about as generic as a "European Deck" would be (which, come to think of it, describes the vast majority of decks, so ok then).

For me, this week, my reason for choosing it is that we are now just past the Harvest Moon and coming up on the Autumn Solstice and, as an American I am keyed to think of new world harvest foods and ideas at this time of year.  It's a season that roots us to the ground we stand on more than any other, I think and a good time to recall that the ancestors of this piece of the world are not those transplanted from elsewhere in the last 400 years.

Deck of the Week: Celtic Tarot (Courtney Davis)

I'd planned to work with the Da Vinci Enigma Tarot this week, but was drawn instead to the Celtic Tarot, illustrated by Courtney Davis.  I adore Davis' artwork, and had spend some time looking unsuccessfully for this deck a few years back.  My friend M. picked up the search for me (and from what I'm told it took a bit of doing!) and gifted me with the deck.

At that time, I'd had no experience at all with non-illustrated pips, and while I loved the deck I found it very difficult to actually work with.  This seems to be a barrier I'm getting over, and I'm looking forward to spending some time with it this week.

Deck of the Week: Da Vinci Tarot

This week I'll be exploring the Lo Scarabeo Da Vinci Tarot (artwork: Iassen Ghiuselev and A. Atana Atanassov, author: Mark McElroy).  This is one of two Da Vinci based decks that I own (the other is the Da Vinci Enigma Tarot, which I'll be switching to next week).

This week's deck is a reworking of Da Vinci's artwork, blending elements from various works of art or using the inspiration of Da Vinci's style in order to illustrate the concepts of Tarot from a Renaissance context.  The cards are subtly shaded in soft browns and greys with light tints drawing in other colors.  The overall effect is very peaceful and classic even though it is a modern deck.

The booklet that comes with the deck includes some information on Da Vinci and his philosophies, and the commentary on each card suggests what advice each card recommends (or discourages, in the case of revesals), as well as thought questions to ask oneself when contemplating the card.  As with all of Mark McElroy's works, I find it to be very engaging, relevant to everyday life, and actually useful - he has a knack for getting to the spirit of things while keeping feet firmly planted on the ground.

Daily Draw: VIII - Justice

A woman in white classic Roman garb with her left breast bared, stands on a small two-tiered step.  The second tier of the step is off-center to the right and she has one foot on each tier.

Her arms are outstretched, with an upright sword held high in her left hand, and a balanced scale in her right.  The left vessel of the scale is lit with flame, while the right vessel is dark. 

The woman wears her hair up, with braids surrounding her face (looking like a laurel wreath) and she has a white crown from which come more flames with a third eye suspended in the flames.  Plumes of white smoke rise from the flames

She is standing on a marble platform between two pillars (a temple maybe?) and behind her is a flat surface - it may be water - with hills behind.  Behind her, in the water, this is a glowing orange light that is either more flame or the reflection from the sun, which we can't see.  The sky is also lit orange and yellow.

The hilt of the sword has some sort of symbol on it.. a circle that is vertically cut in half, with the left half horizontally cut again into a quarter.  Above that, there are two curved shapes that look sort of like snakes facing away from each other.

This version of Justice is most certainly not blind - She looks straight ahead, holding up both light and reason in the form of the Sword.  The flaming eye atop her head points to a connection with divinely inspired truth and vision - she is not leaning simply on her own intellect and opinion.

The scale shows the choice being weighed...light and dark, energetic and passive, inspired and mundane, what is seen and what isn't...  The scale is even - there is not yet a choice made, and neither is inherently right or wrong - they must be regarded as equal until they've been fully and objectively considered.

If that is water that surrounds the temple, this shows that even in the face of emotional decisions, the decision itself can be based on a solid, firm foundation rather than simply being a reaction to one's emotional response. 

The bared breast makes me remember that an aspect of Justice isn't simply to punish or reward, but to nurture truth - to judge honestly and yet, with mercy.

Today I will want to consider what choices I need to consider, and look at them with intellect and wisdom.  I will want to resist making snap judgments or assumptions, but instead weigh the facts and carefully consider alternatives to ensure fairness in my decision making.

Deck of the Week: Alchemical Tarot

My friend M loaned me his Alchemical Tarot (the recent re-release version) by Robert M. Place for a little bit, so I thought I'd use it as my deck of the week.  I like the artwork, though I am not very familiar with the deck yet, and hardly at all familiar with alchemy, so this will be a very introductory peek at the deck.

As a warning... my scans are imperfect and 'cropped' which gives the cards a quite different look than you'll be seeing here.

Knight of Rainbows - Slowing Down

Knight of Rainbows (Pentacles) - Slowing Down

A turtle walks slowly along a sandy path bordered by overhanging grass and large rocks, toward a rainbow shoreline.  The turtle is also rainbow colored, subtle shifts from purple to blue to green. 

The turtle's focus is on the rainbow water ahead - he is not in any hurry but neither is he aimlessly wandering.  He sees his goal and his steps are methodical and patient.

It's been a slow day for me today... very hard to find any burst of energy or inspiration to get things done, and while I got a few items i'd planned to checked off, there were many more that will need to wait until tomorrow.  I don't feel at all as focused as this turtle - I could 'see' my path, but I wasn't moving on it, not even with slow turtle steps.